U.S. patent number 6,698,020 [Application Number 09/094,851] was granted by the patent office on 2004-02-24 for techniques for intelligent video ad insertion.
This patent grant is currently assigned to WebTV Networks, Inc.. Invention is credited to Phillip Y. Goldman, Daniel J. Zigmond.
United States Patent |
6,698,020 |
Zigmond , et al. |
February 24, 2004 |
Techniques for intelligent video ad insertion
Abstract
A system and method for selecting and inserting advertisements
into a video programming feed at the household level. An
advertisement insertion device in a home entertainment system
receives a plurality of advertisements from an advertisement
source. The advertisement insertion device selects one of the
advertisements for display to a viewer according to advertisement
selection criteria combined with viewer and system information. The
video programming is displayed to a viewer while the advertisement
insertion device monitors the programming feed for a triggering
event indicating an appropriate time to display the selected
advertisement. At the appropriate time, the video programming feed
is interrupted and the selected advertisement is displayed.
Selecting advertisements at the household level allows advertisers
to target viewers with a high degree of specificity. In particular,
the advertisement selection criteria may take into account, for
example, demographic data relating to the household, the
geographical location of the household, of individual viewing
habits. The method optionally includes monitoring and reporting
viewer response to the selected advertisements.
Inventors: |
Zigmond; Daniel J. (San
Francisco, CA), Goldman; Phillip Y. (Los Altos, CA) |
Assignee: |
WebTV Networks, Inc. (Mountain
View, CA)
|
Family
ID: |
22247555 |
Appl.
No.: |
09/094,851 |
Filed: |
June 15, 1998 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
725/34; 725/134;
725/68; 725/32; 707/999.104; 725/139; 348/E7.036; 348/E5.102;
707/999.107 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N
21/812 (20130101); H04N 5/44513 (20130101); H04N
21/458 (20130101); H04N 21/6582 (20130101); H04N
7/0887 (20130101); H04N 21/44016 (20130101); H04N
21/435 (20130101); H04N 21/44222 (20130101); H04N
21/4524 (20130101); H04N 21/47 (20130101); H04N
21/4532 (20130101); H04N 21/4782 (20130101); H04N
21/454 (20130101); H04N 21/4622 (20130101); Y10S
707/99945 (20130101); H04N 21/2547 (20130101); Y10S
707/99948 (20130101); H04N 21/4667 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04N
5/445 (20060101); H04N 7/087 (20060101); H04N
7/088 (20060101); H04N 007/10 (); H04N 007/025 ();
H04N 007/20 (); H04N 007/173 (); H04N 007/16 ();
G06F 007/00 (); G06F 017/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;725/32-36,39-43,45-46,49,51,68,22,14,110-114,120,136,139
;709/217-219 ;707/103-104.1 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Faile; Andrew
Assistant Examiner: Tran; Hai V.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Workman, Nydegger
Claims
What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters
Patent is:
1. In a household home entertainment system comprised of a display
device for receiving and displaying video programming received from
a video content provider, and a computing system for controlling at
selected times the source of the video content to be displayed, and
particularly the source and nature of advertising content, a method
for controlling and determining locally at the home entertainment
system the advertising content to be displayed from time to time
for one or more users of the home entertainment system when viewing
video programming received from a video content provider, the
method comprising steps for: storing at the computing system
criteria for selecting some advertising content and not other, the
criteria being based on factors provided from any one or any
combination of i) a user profile for one of the one or more users
viewing the video programming, ii) a video programming content
provider, iii) a third party operator, and iv) an advertiser;
receiving at the home entertainment system advertising content from
an ad source, and subsequently deciding whether to prefilter at
least some of the received advertising content using the stored
criteria, and thereafter storing at the computing system any
received and prefiltered advertising content; receiving and
displaying at the display device video programming provided by a
video content provider; and using the stored criteria, and while
the video programming is being displayed, the computing system
detecting a predefined triggering event, and then selecting
advertising content to be displayed and displaying it by performing
one or both of i) inserting from advertising content stored locally
at the computing system at least some of the selected advertising
content into the video programming being displayed, and ii) using
the stored criteria at the computing system, screening advertising
content included with the video programming to display some but
less than all of the included advertising content.
2. In a household home entertainment system comprised of a display
device for receiving and displaying video programming received from
a video content provider, and a computing system for controlling at
selected times the source of the video content to be displayed, and
particularly the source and nature of advertising content, a
computer program product comprising a computer readable medium for
carrying executable instructions for implementing a method for
controlling and determining locally at the home entertainment
system the advertising content to be displayed from time to time
for one or more users of the home entertainment system when viewing
video programming received from a video content provider, and
wherein the method is comprised of steps for: storing at the
computing system criteria for selecting some advertising content
and not other, the criteria being based on factors provided from
any one or any combination of i) a user profile for one of the one
or more users viewing the video programming, ii) a video
programming content provider, iii) a third party operator, and iv)
an advertiser; receiving at the home entertainment system
advertising content from an ad source, and subsequently deciding
whether to prefilter at least some of the received advertising
content using the stored criteria, and thereafter storing at the
computing system any received and prefiltered advertising content;
receiving and displaying at the display device video programming
provided by a video content provider; and using the stored
criteria, and while the video programming is being displayed, the
computing system detecting a predefined triggering event, and then
selecting advertising content to be displayed and displaying it by
performing one or both of i) inserting from advertising content
stored locally at the computing system at least some of the
selected advertising content into the video programming being
displayed, and ii) using the stored criteria at the computing
system, screening advertising content included with the video
programming to display some but less than all of the included
advertising content.
3. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, further comprising the
step for monitoring the video programming in order to detect a
triggering signal, wherein detection of the predefined triggering
signal is the triggering event.
4. A method as recited in claims 1 or a wherein the triggering
event is derived from the structure of a video programming feed
used for providing the video programming.
5. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, wherein the criteria based
on factors provided from said user profile further comprises a step
for compiling and storing household data characterizing the home
entertainment system.
6. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, further comprising a step
for identifying a television program being carried on said video
programming, and wherein the stored criteria provides that a
specific advertisement is to be selected for display during said
identified television program, independent of any particular
television channel on which said identified television program is
broadcast.
7. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, wherein one of said
factors is comprised of monitoring closed captioning information of
the video programming being displayed in order to identify subject
matter of the video programming, so that an appropriate
advertisement is to be selected for display based at least in part
on the identified subject matter.
8. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, wherein one of said
factors is comprised of compiling demographic data characterizing a
viewer of the displayed video programming feed, so that an
appropriate advertisement is to be selected for display based at
least in part on the compiled demographic data.
9. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, wherein one of said
factors is comprised of compiling geographical data specifying the
geographical location of the home entertainment system, so that an
appropriate advertisement is to be selected for display based at
least in part on the geographical location.
10. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, wherein one of said
factors is comprised of compiling data characterizing the habits of
a viewer of the video programming relative to the features of the
home entertainment system, so that an appropriate advertisement is
to be selected for display based at least in part on the habits of
the viewer.
11. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the habits of the
viewer include at least one of the types of video programming
watched by the viewer, the types of Internet sites visited by the
viewer, and purchases made by the viewer through the Internet.
12. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, wherein one of said
factors is comprised of presenting a survey including one or more
inquiries to a viewer of the video programming, so that an
appropriate advertisement is to be selected for display based at
least in part on responses of the viewer to the survey.
13. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, wherein one of said
factors is comprised of detecting a content rating associated with
the video programming, so that an appropriate advertisement is to
be selected for display based at least in part on the content
rating.
14. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, wherein one of said
factors is comprised of identifying a parental lock code entered to
the home entertainment system, so that an appropriate advertisement
is to be selected for display based at least in part on the
parental lock code.
15. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, wherein the step of
displaying the video programming comprises the step of transmitting
the video programming from a video recording media located at the
home entertainment system, and wherein one of said factors is
comprised of the recorded nature of the video programming.
16. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, wherein one of said
factors is comprised of compiling information relating to the
actions that a viewer of the video programming feed has taken in
response to previous displayed advertisements, so that an
appropriate advertisement is to be selected for display based at
least in part on the compiled information.
17. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, further comprising the
step of storing information contained in the displayed advertising
content for later reference in response to actions of a viewer of
the displayed advertising content.
18. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, wherein said selected
advertising content is comprised of a first and a second
advertisement which are simultaneously displayed in a split-screen
format on the display device.
19. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, further comprising,
either during or after display of said selected advertising
content, a step for collecting information about actions of a
viewer of said selected advertisement, including at least one of
either channel changes during display of said selected
advertisement, requests by said viewer for additional information,
or feedback provided by said viewer in response to said selected
advertisement.
20. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, further comprising a step
for learning the identity of the viewer by requesting that a viewer
log on to the home entertainment system before displaying the video
programming, and wherein one of said factors is comprised of the
identity of the viewer.
21. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, wherein the selected
advertising content comprises one or more computer-generated
documents.
22. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, further comprising a step
for monitoring a cumulative number of times that one or more
advertisements of the selected advertising content has been
displayed at the home entertainment system, and wherein one of said
factors is comprised of the cumulative number.
23. A method as recited in claims 1 or 2, wherein the video
programming and the selected advertising content are multiplexed
and delivered to the home entertainment system in a single data
stream.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to displaying advertisements to
viewers of video programming. In particular, the present invention
is directed to methods and systems for selecting and inserting
advertisements into a video programming feed at the household
level.
2. The Prior State of the Art
A major source of revenue for commercial television broadcasters is
the sale of broadcast time to advertisers. Advertising is the main
source of income for national television broadcasters and their
local over-the-air affiliates. Likewise, cable networks derive
their income from a combination of the sale of advertising time and
the receipt of cable subscription fees. Advertising revenue is a
leading factor in the currently available diverse selection of
commercial television programming.
Advertisers have typically attempted to maximize the return on
their advertising investment by targeting specific viewer segments
that are likely to be most receptive to the commercial message
embodied in the advertisements. One of the most widespread and
simplest ways of targeting viewers involves identifying what types
of viewers are associated with specific television programs. For
example, it may be found that sports programming is viewed by a
segment of the population that includes a disproportionate number
of persons who are likely to purchase automobiles. In another
example, it may be found that news programs are viewed most
frequently by persons who are more interested in investment
services than the public at large.
Advertisers offering goods or services that coincide with the
interests of the viewers of a particular program are usually
willing to pay a premium for advertising time associated with the
program. Accordingly, broadcasters have a financial incentive to
provide programming that is easily associated with specific
segments of the viewing population and to facilitate the
identification of the profiles of viewers.
Another method of targeting specific viewing audiences involves
selecting advertisements according to the geographical region in
which they are to be broadcast. Frequently, viewers in one local or
regional area may be more likely to be receptive to an advertiser's
message than viewers in a different area. For example, some
advertisements are presented by businesses operating in a limited
geographical area. Accordingly, advertising success and the
advertising revenues received by broadcasters are maximized when
different advertisements may be broadcast to different geographical
areas.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional example of a system for
selectively broadcasting different advertisements to households in
different geographical regions. A typical broadcasting system
includes content providers 10 that distribute television
programming to households 12, 14, and 16. In this example, content
providers 10 include a national broadcaster 18, which is one of the
national television broadcasting networks. Each national
broadcaster 18 typically provides programming, including
advertisements 20, to a plurality of local affiliates 22, 24, and
others scattered across the country.
Local affiliates 22 and 24 contractually agree with national
broadcaster 18 to provide the broadcasting equipment and services
for distributing the programming of national broadcaster 18 to a
local or regional area. In compensation for broadcasting the
programming, national broadcaster 18 allows local affiliates 22 and
24 to sell and broadcast local advertisements 26 and 28. In this
example, it is to be understood that local affiliate 22 serves a
different geographical region than local affiliate 24. Accordingly,
many of the advertisements 26 broadcast by local affiliate 22 are
likely to be different than the advertisements 28 broadcast by
local affiliate 24. Such geographical differentiation of
advertisements is often of great interest to advertisers. Local
advertisers may find it cost-effective to purchase advertising time
from local affiliate 22 or 24 in order to specifically target local
viewers, while it would be impractical to purchase an advertisement
20 for national distribution. In this conventional approach to
selling advertisement time, the contractual arrangement between
national broadcaster 18 and local affiliates 22 and 24 ordinarily
attempt to strike a balance between local advertisements 26 and 28
and national advertisements 20 in order to maximize overall
advertising income.
Another important segment of the television broadcast industry
involves cable networks 30, which are generally not associated with
local affiliates. Instead, cable networks 30 distribute their
programming to cable providers 32 by means of satellite or other
communication systems. Cable networks 30 sell advertising time to
national advertisers generally in a similar manner as national
broadcaster 18. Accordingly, the typical advertisement 34 broadcast
by cable network 30 is targeted to the national viewing audience.
As a financial incentive to encourage cable providers 32 to make
the programming of cable network 30 available to cable subscribers
(i.e., household 16), cable network 30 often designates selected
time slots that may be sold to local advertisers by the cable
provider. Thus, many cable providers insert local advertisements 36
into the programming of cable networks 30.
Frequently, the geographical area served by a cable provider 32 is
significantly smaller than the geographical area served by a local
affiliate 22 or 24. Accordingly, the advertisements 36 distributed
by cable provider 32 may be targeted to relatively small
geographically areas, such as a specific city.
The effects of the conventional distribution of advertising time
between local and national advertisers may be more fully understood
by considering the system of FIG. 1 from the standpoint of viewers
in households 12, 14, and 16. In this example, it is assumed that
household 12 is in a first geographical region served by local
affiliate 22 while households 14 and 16 are in a second
geographical region served by local affiliate 24. Furthermore,
household 16 is in a specific city served by cable provider 32
within the second geographical region. In this example, a viewer in
household 12 receives advertisements 20 from national broadcaster
18 and advertisements 26 from local affiliate 22. Household 14
receives the same advertisements 20 from national broadcaster 18
but receives advertisements 28 that are specifically targeted to
the second geographical region served by local affiliate 24.
Household 16 also receives advertisements 20 from national
broadcaster 18 and advertisements 28 from local affiliate 24. In
addition, household 16 receives national advertisements 34 from
cable network 30 and local advertisements 36 from cable provider
32.
FIG. 2A illustrates a conventional system whereby a local affiliate
inserts local advertisements into a video programming feed received
from a national broadcaster. In FIG. 2A, a series of advertisements
20 are included at a predetermined time in programming feed 38 by
the national broadcaster 18 of FIG. 1. According to the contractual
agreement between the national broadcaster 18 and local affiliate
24, the national broadcaster includes in the programming feed 38 an
occasional time slot 40 that is filled by local advertisements 28
sold to advertisers by the local affiliate.
FIG. 2B illustrates a conventional system whereby a cable provider
inserts local advertisements into a video programming feed received
from a national broadcaster. In this example, cable network 30
broadcasts a series of advertisements 34 at a predetermined time in
its programming feed 39. According to the contractual agreement
between the cable provider 32 and the cable network 30, the cable
provider is given the option of inserting advertisements 36 into
specified time slots 42 in programming feed 39. Because cable
providers ordinarily broadcast a large number of channels, many
cable providers are unable to sell all the advertising time that is
made available by the cable networks. For this reason, cable
networks typically broadcast a national advertisement 34 during the
specified time slots 42 in recognition that the cable provider may
not insert an advertisement 36.
The foregoing systems have been used profitably by advertisers and
the television broadcast industry. Advertising revenues are largely
responsible for the wide range of television choices currently
available to the viewing public. However, even with the widespread
practice of targeting viewers based on television programming
content and the practice of geographically differentiating
advertisements, viewers who are likely to be disinterested in the
goods or services offered by advertisers unavoidably constitute a
large percentage of the viewing population. For example, even
though it may be found that viewers of sports programming are
collectively more likely to purchase automobiles, a large number of
individual viewers in this segment of the viewing population simply
are not interested in such purchases. Likewise, while viewers of
news programs may be more interested as a whole in investment
services than the general public, a large number of such viewers
belong to age or economic segments of the population that
traditionally do not make use of investment services. In view of
these and many other examples, conventional methods and systems for
targeting advertisements to specific groups of viewers are
inefficient.
Conventional systems for delivering advertisements to viewers fail
to provide accurate feedback mechanisms for gauging viewer
response. As seen in FIG. 1, delivery and display of advertisements
of advertisements in households 12, 14, and 16 is essentially
one-way communication from the advertiser to the viewer. The
advertiser is generally unable to determine whether its
advertisements have reached the desired segment of the viewing
population or whether they have been effective. At most,
advertisers are able to monitor business activity before and after
a particular advertising campaign or to initiate a direct survey to
learn of viewers' perceptions of advertisements. Such approaches
are likely to be expensive and inconclusive.
In view of the foregoing, it can be understood that there is a need
in the art for systems and methods for more specifically targeting
viewers in order to tailor advertisements to the interests and
needs of the viewers. Because of the financial incentives involved,
both content providers and advertisers would be interested in
improved systems for directing television advertisements to
interested viewers. A system for selecting advertisements at a more
local level than has previously been possible would be a great
advancement in the art. Furthermore, it would be advantageous to
provide a system for delivering and displaying advertisements
wherein the response of the viewers may be accurately measured.
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to methods and systems for
inserting advertisements or other video or visually displayed
objects into video programming feeds at the household level. The
method of invention allows advertisers to target individual viewers
based on the needs and interests of individual viewers and
households. Advertisement selection and insertion at the household
level greatly increases the efficiency of television
advertising.
According to one aspect of the method of the invention, a
conventional video programming feed is displayed to a viewer.
Either before or during the display of the video programming feed
to the viewer, a plurality of advertisements from an advertisement
source are received by a home entertainment system in the
household. The received advertisements are either stored in an
advertisement repository for later display or are made available to
the home entertainment system at an appropriate time for immediate
display.
At least some identifying characteristics of the viewer, the
content of the video programming, the geographical location of the
household, or other factors, are compiled and are used in
combination with designated ad selection criteria in order to
select for display an appropriate advertisement. The selected
advertisement is appropriate in the sense that it is specifically
associated with characteristics of the viewer or the household.
Many of the criteria for selecting appropriate advertisements allow
targeting of segments of the viewing population in ways that are
more efficient and reliable than have been possible before the
invention.
During display of the video programming feed, an appropriate time
for displaying a selected advertisement to the viewer is indicated
by a triggering event. Typically, the appropriate time coincides
with advertisements that are originally carried on the video
programming feed. The triggering event may be a signal carried in
the video programming feed, implied by the timewise structure by
the video programming feed, or based on an external mechanism, such
as information contained in an electronic program guide. At the
appropriate time indicated by the triggering event, the video
programming feed is interrupted and the selected advertisement is
displayed to the viewer using a display screen of the home
entertainment system. In effect, the advertisement originally
carried on the video programming feed is overwritten with the
selected advertisement. Upon termination of the advertisement, the
video programming feed is again displayed to the viewer.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the method includes
monitoring the response of the viewer to the selected
advertisement. For example, information relating to the viewer
response may be stored in the home entertainment system and may be
periodically transmitted to a clearinghouse, where the information
is made available to the advertisers, the operator of the
advertising source, or other interested parties. Thus, the
invention allows potentially valuable viewer feedback to be
compiled. The viewer response information may allow the advertisers
to further modify the content of their advertisements or to change
the advertisement selection criteria so as to communicate more
effectively to viewers. This can be done by extending the system to
include an automatic feedback loop that selects ads based on rules
set by the advertiser.
The invention allows advertisements to be more efficiently tailored
to the needs and interests of individual viewers than has been
previously possible. The advertiser realizes benefits from the
invention by maximizing the effectiveness of its efforts of
targeting interested viewers. The invention allows the operator of
the advertisement source and/or the content providers to increase
advertising revenue and to more effectively compete in the
advertising market because advertisers are generally willing to pay
for the increased advertisement targeting efficiency. Finally, the
viewing public benefits by being exposed to consumer information
that is more relevant to their needs and interests than has been
possible under conventional advertising systems.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set
forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious
from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the
invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be
realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations
particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other
objects and features of the present invention will become more
fully apparent from the following description and appended claims,
or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth
hereinafter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In order that the manner in which the above-recited and other
advantages and objects of the invention are obtained, a more
particular description of the invention briefly described above
will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which
are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these
drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are
not therefore to be considered limiting of its scope, the invention
will be described and explained with additional specificity and
detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a broadcasting system of the prior
art wherein advertisements are selected and broadcast to viewers of
different geographical regions.
FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of the insertion of advertisements
into a video programming feed by a local affiliate of a national
broadcaster as practiced in the prior art.
FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram of the insertion of advertisements
into a video programming feed by a cable provider as practiced in
the prior art.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a system of inserting
advertisements into a video programming feed at the household level
according to the invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system for receiving
advertisements from an advertising source and video programming
from a programming source according to the invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram depicting in greater detail an
advertisement insertion device of the invention.
FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing selected steps of a method of
selecting and displaying advertisements using the advertisement
insertion device of FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a satellite system for
broadcasting advertisements to a household, where a selected
advertisement is displayed according to the invention.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a system for embedding Internet
links in a television broadcast.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention relates to methods and systems for selecting
and inserting advertisement into a video programming feed at the
household level. The advertisements to be shown to a viewer
according to the invention are selected according to designated
criteria in combination with information that characterizes the
viewer, the content of the video programming feed, the geographical
location of the household, or the like in order to efficiently
target segments of the viewing population.
For purposes of convenience, the invention is described herein by
making primary reference to insertion of advertisements into a
video programming stream. However, the video insertion methods of
the invention are generally applicable to other forms of video
content or video objects beyond advertisements. For example, the
video programming that would otherwise be displayed to a viewer may
be selectivity replaced with any type of video programming, such as
pay-per-view, subscription, special-interest television services,
or the like. The term "video objects" extends to advertisements and
any other form of video programming, including the foregoing
specifically listed types of video programming. Those skilled in
the art will recognize, upon learning of the disclosure herein,
that the methods of inserting selected advertisements extend to
insertion of any other type of desired video programming, video
content, or video objects.
As used herein, the term "household" refers to a house or any other
site where video programming and advertisements are displayed.
Personal residences and businesses where television programming is
made available to patrons are intended to be included under the
term household. The term "household" also encompasses the viewers
in a house or other site, the home entertainment system used to
display the video programming and the advertisements, and the
content of the video programming displayed at the house or other
site.
As used herein, the term "home entertainment system" includes any
television or other display screen and the associated hardware and
software for displaying the video programming and selected
advertisements according to the invention. As further specified
herein, some home entertainment systems of the invention have other
features, such as video programming recording capabilities or
access to the Internet and the World Wide Web.
Embodiments within the scope of the present invention include
computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions or
data fields stored thereon. The computer-executable instructions
may include program code means for executing selected steps of the
methods disclosed herein. The computer-readable media can be any
available media which can be accessed by a general purpose or
special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation,
such computer readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM
or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other
magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to
store the desired executable instructions or data fields and which
can accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.
Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope
of computer readable media. Executable instructions comprise, for
example, instructions and data which cause a general purpose
computer, special purpose computer, or special purpose processing
device to perform a certain function or group of functions.
FIG. 3 is a high-level diagram of an advertisement insertion system
according to the invention. One or more content providers 50
broadcast or otherwise distribute a video programming feed 52. The
content providers 50 may include one or more of the content
providers 10 shown in FIG. 1. In particular, video programming feed
52 may be provided by a national broadcaster, a local affiliate, a
cable network, satellite broadcast networks, or any other source of
video programming. Other examples of content providers are local
independent television stations, community channels, pay-per-view
channels, and videotape or any other medium carrying recorded video
programming.
In one embodiment of the invention, the content provider 50
broadcasts advertisements 54 that are included in the video
programming feed 52. Advertisements 54 may be of interest
nationally or locally as described above in reference to the
advertisements of FIG. 1. Video programming feed 52 is transmitted
to household 56 via any suitable program delivery channel, such as
an over-the-air broadcast, a cable provider, a consumer satellite
service, telephone lines, via the Internet, or by any other system
for transmitting video data. Any of the foregoing structures or
systems are examples of means for delivering a video programming
feed to the display device. When a viewer desires to watch the
video programming carried by feed 52, the video programming is
displayed using display device 58.
At an appropriate time specified by encoded data in video
programming feed 52 or by the structure of video programming feed
52, the household advertisement insertion device 60 interrupts the
display of the video programming feed 52. An advertisement 59 that
has been selected according to any desired method is then displayed
to the viewer using display device 58. Preferably, the criteria by
which advertisement 59 is selected result in efficient targeting of
advertisement 59 to an individual viewer. The source of the
selected advertisement and the criteria used to select the
advertisement are described in greater detail below.
Examples of the structure and functions of household advertisement
insertion device 60 are also described in greater detail below. In
one embodiment of the invention, the ad insertion device is
embodied in a special purpose computer located at the household
where the selected advertisements are displayed. In a particular
embodiment of the invention, the special purpose computer embodying
the ad insertion device 60 is a home entertainment system component
known as a WebTV box available from WebTV Networks, Inc. of Palo
Alto, Calif. In particular, the WebTV box may be adapted to perform
the finctions described herein for selecting and displaying
advertisements at the household level.
In other embodiments of the invention, the ad insertion device 60
may be integrated in a television set that also includes display
device 58. Other examples of suitable ad insertion devices 60 may
have some components thereof at household 56 and other components
at a remote location. For instance, advertisements selected on a
household-by-household basis may be distributed by a cable provider
using conventional cable television infrastructure. The cable
provider may compile household data relating to several households
at a central or regional location, where advertisements to be
displayed to viewers in the various households are selected.
According to further examples, selection of an appropriate
advertisements for a particular household may be conducted at a
remote location, with the selected advertisement being transmitted
to the household at the appropriate time by multiplexing multiple
video streams or by use of a conventional telephone network or
another communications infrastructure.
FIG. 4 illustrates in greater detail the sources of advertisements
and video programming according to one embodiment of the invention.
For example, advertisement source 62 may be a local repository
having stored therein a plurality of advertisements, from which an
advertisement stream 64 is delivered to the ad insertion device
over an advertisement or other video channel. According to another
example, advertisement source 62 includes a repository at a central
location to serve multiple households. Alternatively, advertisement
source 62 may be a just-in-time system for delivering advertisement
stream 64 to the ad insertion device.
Any of a number of entities may be the advertisement content
provider or, in other words, the party responsible for making the
advertisements available to advertisement source 62 and ad
insertion device 60. In one embodiment, the advertisement content
provider is the advertiser. Alternatively, the advertisement
content provider is the same as the video programming content
provider. For example, the national broadcaster 20 of FIG. 1 may
deliver advertisements to individual households for local selection
and display to viewers according to the invention disclosed herein.
In another embodiment, a third party advertisement content provider
makes the advertisements available to the advertisement source 62
and the ad insertion device 60. In this case, the third party
advertisement content provider typically contracts with the
advertisers to provide a predetermined type or number of
advertisement exposures for the advertisers.
As described above in reference to FIG. 3, a programming source 66,
which may be operated by content provider 50, supplies video
programming feed 52 to the advertisement insertion device 60. A
video switch 68 toggles between video programming feed 52 and
selected advertisements of advertisement stream 64 and transmits
the selected data feed to display device 58. Video switch 68 may be
actuated at an appropriate time indicated by a triggering event
delivered by advertisement trigger source 70.
According to one aspect of the invention, the triggering event is a
designated signal encoded in video programming feed 52.
Alternatively, however, the triggering event may be implied by some
mechanism, such as the conventional pattern of advertisements in
video programming feed 52. When an implied triggering event is used
to initiate display of the selected advertisement, any consistent
pattern in video programming feed 52 that is associated with
forthcoming advertisements may be used as the implied triggering
event. For example, programming sources 66 such as national
broadcasters or cable networks often transmit a very brief black
screen immediately preceding the onset of a series of
advertisements. Such a pattern may be interpreted by ad insertion
device 60 and video switch 68 to be a triggering event indicating
an appropriate time to insert a selected advertisement.
A predetermined agreement between third party ad source 62 and
programming source 66 may be used to ensure that actual triggering
events are provided to the ad insertion device 60. In this case,
both the third party ad source 62 and programming source 66 may
benefit from the ability to specifically target viewers. In
contrast, the use of implied triggers or other actual triggering
events may be accompanied with unilateral insertion of selected
advertisements into the video programming feed 52 on the part of
the ad source 62.
In any of the above-described scenarios, the operator of ad source
62 is able to sell advertising opportunities to advertisers or to
deliver its own advertisements. It can be understood that an
operator of an advertisement source 62 is able to sell advertising
time and deliver advertisements to viewers with or without the
participation of the operator of programming source 66 or other
content providers. However, cooperation between the operator of
programming source 66 and the operator of ad source 62 may result
in several advantages, such as the ability to use explicit trigger
signals rather than implied trigger signals.
In one embodiment, the advertisements delivered from ad source 62
are inexpensively converted from traditionally non-video media. For
example, text, graphics, pictures, or audio from a computer
generated document (i.e., an HTML page) is converted into a video
display such as a freeze-frame or slide show. This method is
particularly useful for community-scale advertisements originating
from advertisers that traditionally have not had access to
television or advertising production resources for economic or
other reasons. To illustrate, a school could transmit and display
computer-generated text to viewers within the school boundaries in
order to inform parents of school events or policies.
FIG. 4 further illustrates an optional aspect of the invention
whereby viewer responses to the selected advertisements are
compiled and periodically reported. In this embodiment, the ad
insertion device 60 monitors actions of the viewer before, during
or after display of the selected advertisement. Examples of such
actions include channel changes during display of the selected
advertisement, requests by the viewer for additional information,
feedback provided by the viewer in response to the advertisement,
and the like. In a further example, the user may be presented with
multiple ads and asked to select one for viewing. Information about
which ad has been selected may also be compiled. Such interaction
between the viewer of the advertisement and the home entertainment
system allows advertisers to more effectively target interested
viewers or to test a proposed advertisement on a limited segment of
the viewing population while receiving valuable feedback relating
to the popularity or effectiveness of the advertisement.
When the optional viewer response monitoring feature is employed,
the systems of the invention include means for collecting
information relating to actions of the viewer in response to the
displayed advertisement. For example, viewer response information
is collected in a statistics collection location 61, which may be
located at the home entertainment system or at a remote site.
According to one option, viewer response information is compiled
and stored at a statistics collection location 61 that is located
within the household. The viewer response information may be
periodically sent to a clearinghouse where the information may be
aggregated and made available to the operator of the advertisement
source 62, the advertisers, or other interested parties. In
addition, or in the alternative, the viewer response information
remains at the ad insertion device to further modify the
advertisement selection process as is described below in greater
detail.
Because many households include more than one viewer, the home
entertainment system and the methods of the invention optionally
include means for identifying the viewer. In one example, the means
for identifying the viewer includes a login screen or protocol,
which requires the viewer or viewers to identify themselves each
time video programming is watched. When the invention is
incorporated in a Web TV box or another Internet access system, the
login structure and protocol may be combined with the system for
logging into to Internet access system. In another example, the
means for identifying the viewer includes statistics collection
location 61 in combination with computer-executable instructions
for deriving or making a best estimate of the identity of the
viewer based on current and past viewing habits.
Because one implementation utilizes a WebTV box, a mechanism to
transmit viewer response information from the ad insertion device
is provided, such as phone lines, cable modems, Internet or World
Wide Web connections, etc. For example, viewer response statistics
may be collected on a World Wide Web site, compiled, sent, or made
available, all automatically, using existing technology or with
little user intervention. In implementations using ad insertion
devices that are not embodied in a WebTV box, the data channel for
sending viewer response statistics may also include phone lines,
cable modems, or Internet or World Wide Web connections.
FIG. 5 further illustrates the components and operation of an ad
insertion device according to the invention. In particular, FIG. 5
illustrates an embodiment of the invention wherein a plurality of
advertisements are periodically delivered to the ad insertion
device and are stored therein in preparation for selection and
display of one or more of the advertisements. Ad insertion device
80 may advantageously be a WebTV box having been adapted to include
the structure and perform the functions described herein. Ad
insertion device 80 includes means for storing household data,
which may include viewer and system information. One example of
such means for storing household data is a storage location 82
shown in FIG. 5. Storage location 82 may comprise any
computer-readable medium for storing data fields thereon. The
viewer and system information of storage location 82 may include
any of a wide range of household data for characterizing the
viewer, the geographical location of the household, the features of
the ad insertion device and the home entertainment system, and the
like.
The viewer and system information may include data provided by the
viewer upon initiation of the services provided by the ad insertion
device 80, such as a voluntary survey or questionnaire filled out
during the registration process. During ongoing operation of the ad
insertion device 80, the viewer and system information may be
updated automatically in order to characterize the viewing habits
of the viewers. It will be understood that as more detailed
information relating to the viewer and the other factors disclosed
herein is accumulated, the appropriate advertisements to be
displayed on display device 58 may be more effectively
identified.
Specific examples of the viewer and system information stored in
storage location 82 include the following. Viewer demographic data
may be stored in storage location 82, including age, sex, income,
preferred language, number of residents, or similar information.
Such demographic information may be provided directly by the viewer
or may be obtained from a third party source and associated with
the household using address information. The geographical location
may also be included and may be specified by city, neighborhood or
the street address of the household, and the local time at the
household may be monitored. Storage location 82 may also store
content ratings or parental lock codes when the home entertainment
system is compatible with such features. The viewer may also be
permitted to specify his or her hobbies, interests, spending
habits, and anticipated major purchases.
According to one implementation, the ad insertion devices of the
invention further comprise means for identifying the content of
television programs carried on the video programming feed. One
example of such means is an electronic program database 81 that
associates specific television programs with specific time slots
and television channels. Furthermore, electronic program database
81 may include program descriptions associated with the television
programs listed therein. Electronic program databases having the
foregoing features and methods for delivering the electronic
program databases to home entertainment systems are well known in
the art. Another example of means for identifying the content of
the television programs includes computer-readable medium carrying
program code for monitoring the content of the closed captioning
signal that is conventionally broadcast with the video and audio
portions of the television program.
The viewer and system information may further include information
relating to the viewing habits of the viewers in the household. The
viewing habits may be described by monitoring the times of day that
programming is watched, the amount of time spent viewing particular
channels, preferred types of programming, etc. In some embodiments,
ad insertion device 80 is included in a home entertainment system
component such as a WebTV box that also has Internet and World Wide
Web browsing capabilities. Monitoring preferred Internet sites may
provide useful information to be stored in storage location 82 in
order to further specify the preferences and background of the
viewer. In view of the foregoing, it is to be understood that the
types of viewer and system information stored in storage location
82 may be any desired data that characterizes the viewer, the
features of the home entertainment system, the content of the video
programming feed, the geographical location of the household, and
the like.
Ad selection criteria 83 are stored in ad insertion device 80 for
use in combination with the viewer and system information 82 and/or
the electronic program database 81 in order to select appropriate
advertisements to be displayed to the viewer. Typical ad selection
criteria include both advertisement parameters associated with
particular advertisements and ad selection rules. The advertisement
parameters include, for example, a description of the content of
the advertisement, codes that identify the subject matter of the
advertisement, or other mechanisms for characterizing the
advertisement so that the advertisement may be displayed to an
appropriate segment of the viewing population. According to one
implementation, the ad selection rules are used to match the viewer
and system information of storage location 82 or the programming
content information of electronic program database 81 with the
advertisement parameters associated with the advertisements. In
this way, the ad selection criteria 83 may be used to efficiently
target desired viewers of particular advertisements.
The ad selection rules of ad selection criteria 83 may be
predefined by the advertisers, the video programming content
provider, a third party operator of the advertisement source 62,
or, in some cases, by the viewer. It can be understood that the
source of the ad selection rules may be determined according to an
agreement between the parties. Alternatively, the methods of the
invention disclosed herein may be unilaterally practiced by any one
of the foregoing entities, in which case, the particular entity may
exercise sole control over the choice of ad selection criteria. The
ad selection rules can change over time as more viewer and system
information and viewer response information is compiled. In
general, the ad selection rules may be designated in any desired
way so as to effectively target individuals that belong to a
desired segment of the viewing population.
The initial ad selection rules and any updated versions thereof may
be delivered to the ad insertion device 80 according to one of a
number of methods. The delivery channel of the ad selection rules
may be the same as the advertisement delivery channel. For example,
ad selection rules may be delivered over telephone, over broadcast
signals or downloaded from the World Wide Web. Alternatively, the
ad selection rules may be delivered to the ad insertion device 80
by any available delivery channel independent from the delivery of
the advertisement stream and the video programming feed. In another
implementation, preinstalled initial ad selection rules are
included in new ad insertion devices and the associated home
entertainment systems. Furthermore, the ad selection rules may be
automatically modified as more viewer and household information is
compiled.
Advertisement parameters associated with particular advertisements
are generally assigned by the advertiser, the operator of the
advertising source 62, or the video programming content provider.
In general, the entity that has an incentive for efficient
targeting of advertisements to selected segments of the viewing
population will likely ensure that appropriate advertising
parameters are associated with the advertisements. Often, the
advertiser or an advertising firm representing the advertiser will
ensure that advertisement parameters are attached to the
advertisement.
The advertisement parameters may be conveniently delivered to the
ad selection device 80 at the same time as the advertising feed,
using the same delivery channel. While other methods of delivering
advertising parameters are possible, delivery of the advertisement
parameters with the associated advertisements provides relatively
easy correlation between the parameters and the advertisements.
The systems disclosed herein for selecting an appropriate
advertisement for display, including the storage location for the
ad selection criteria 83 and the storage location 82 for the viewer
and system information, constitute examples of means for selecting
one of a plurality of advertisements for display to a viewer. With
respect to many of the following examples of ad selection criteria,
it can be understood that a viewer in a first household is often
shown a different advertisement than a viewer in another home, even
though the viewers may be watching the same video programming
feed.
The following discussion of alternative types of advertisement
selection criteria provides examples of how the operator of
advertisement source 62 and the advertiser may specifically target
desired viewers. Based on the programming information contained in
the electronic program database 81, the ad selection criteria 83
may select specific advertisements according to a particular
program being viewed. This selection criteria is similar to the
selection process frequently used in conventional broadcast systems
as described above in reference to FIG. 1. However, according to
the invention, an advertiser may specify that its advertisement is
to be shown during a particular program regardless of the network
on which the program is broadcast. For example, if a syndicated
sitcom or other program is broadcast on multiple networks, a
selected advertisement may be shown regardless of which network is
being viewed.
The programming descriptions contained in the electronic program
database 81 may be used selected an advertisement according to the
subject matter of a particular program. For example, an advertiser
for a current-release motion picture may request that the ad
selection criteria 83 identify all television programs featuring
the cast members of the motion picture. Thus, when a star of the
motion picture appears on a television talk show, an advertisement
for the motion picture may be shown during a commercial break. It
will be appreciated that the subject matter of the television
program may be identified using the descriptions in the electronic
program database 81, by monitoring the contents of the closed
captioning information, or by any other desired method.
The ad selection criteria may further be used to choose
advertisements that are compatible with television viewing habits
of the viewer, the preferred Internet or World Wide Web sites,
previous Internet purchases made using the home entertainment
system, responses to consumer habits and preferences surveys, and
the like. In addition, advertisements can be selected in response
to the viewing habits of a viewer with respect to advertisements in
general. For example, many viewers habitually change the television
channel whenever an advertisement is shown. Such aggressive
"channel surfers" are often able to avoid a large percentage of
advertisements simply by tuning into channels that are broadcasting
programming. In response to channel surfers, the invention may be
adapted in one of several ways. In a first example, video switch 90
of FIG. 5 inserts one particular advertisement into each
advertisement slot that the channel surfer encounters as he or she
progresses through the channel lineup. In this way, the channel
surfer is repeatedly exposed to at least bits and pieces of the one
particular advertisement. Eventually, given enough time and channel
changes, the commercial message of the particular advertisement is
communicated to the channel surfer.
In a second example, the video programming broadcast to the home
entertainment system from multiple content providers or television
channels is coordinated so that each channel simultaneously
broadcasts advertisement slots. In this example, a selected
advertisement is displayed simultaneously on all of the multiple
channels, so the advertiser ensures that instant coverage is made
to viewers watching any of a large number of channels. Such
"blanket saturation" is effective, not only to reach channel
surfers, but also to reliably target any desired segment of the
viewing population.
In one embodiment, statistics collection location 61 of FIG. 5
counts the number of times a particular viewer has seen a selected
advertisement. Once the advertisement has been displayed the
desired number of times during a given time period, further display
of the advertisement to the viewer is blocked. This is useful, for
example, to prevent viewers from becoming frustrated through being
excessively exposed to the selected advertisement.
The ad selection criteria 83 could be used to select advertisements
having different content ratings depending on the content rating of
the program being watched by the viewer. Alternatively, the content
rating of the selected advertisement may be coordinated with
parental lock codes or other indications of preferred or
permissible programming content stored in the home entertainment
system. Content rating selection may be used to choose between
different versions of an advertisement for one product, one example
being an Rrated and a PG-rated trailer for a motion picture.
Local time may be used to select an appropriate advertisement in
situations where a program is broadcast simultaneously to viewers
in different time zones. For examples, satellite television
subscribers on the West Coast often have access to the East Coast
feeds of national broadcasters and cable networks. Accordingly, the
ad selection criteria could ensure that certain advertisements are
shown at the time of day desired by the advertiser (i.e., showing
"late nite" ads vs. "primetime" ads).
The system of the invention may be used to select appropriate
advertisements based at least in part on whether the video
programming feed is watched as it is broadcast or being replayed
from recorded media. Certain advertisements have time-sensitive
subject matter, such as those that present commercial offers for a
limited time. Advertisers can update time-sensitive advertisements
when such advertisements have been recorded, so as not to present
obsolete information to the viewer. Furthermore, according to the
methods of the invention advertisements originally recorded on
videotape or another recorded medium can be re placed with
effectively targeted ads based on any other desired criteria.
The ad selection criteria may further be used to choose
advertisements based on the content of recently displayed
advertisements. For example, an advertiser for one car manufacturer
may want to preclude advertisements from other automobile
manufacturers. Alternatively, an advertiser may wish to display an
advertisement to a viewer directly after an advertisement of a
competitor in order to highlight the competitive advantages of its
goods or services. Such flexibility allows advertisers to display
their advertisements at a time that is likely to provide the
greatest impact on the viewer.
The ad selection criteria may be set or modified by the viewer, as
well, in order to request or block advertisements for selected
classes of goods or services. This optional feature of the
invention advantageously allows the viewer to participate in a
selection of advertisements. In an extreme case, the ad selection
criteria 83 may be modified in response to, for example, increased
subscription fees from the viewer in order to allow the viewer to
forego advertisements altogether. In this case, advertisements may
be replaced by entertainment, informational, or any other
programming.
Advertisement selection may further be conducted according to the
identified viewer demographic information. Certain goods or
services may appeal primarily to either men or women, to certain
age groups, or persons of certain income levels. Accordingly,
advertisers using the methods disclosed herein are able to reliably
identify members of the desired segment of the viewing population
according to the demographic information stored in storage location
82. It can be understood that using specific information relating
to the viewers in a household is significantly more efficient than
relying on estimated or average demographic characteristics of
viewers of individual programs and program types.
The ad selection criteria 83 further have the capability of
targeting advertisements to narrowly defined geographical areas.
Accordingly, advertisers may direct their advertisements only to
viewers living in selected streets, neighborhoods, cities, or the
like. According to further alternative ad selection criteria,
advertisers may pay for a guaranteed number of exposures. In yet
another variation, advertisements are displayed in a small number
of households, while detailed viewer response information is
gathered in a focus group-type arrangement.
In view of the foregoing, those of skill in the art will understand
that many other ad selection criteria or viewer and system
information may be used to effectively select appropriate
advertisements. The specific examples disclosed above are not to
limit the scope of the invention, but serve instead to illustrate
suitable and presently preferred embodiments of the invention.
Returning to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the ad insertion
device 80 includes means for receiving an advertisement stream,
including a plurality of advertisements. One example of such means
includes telephone lines. In many cases, the telephone line
connected to ad insertion device 80 is a shared line that also
provides conventional residential telephone service to the
household. Ad insertion device 80 initiates a telephone call on a
periodic basis to an advertisement source to request a download of
advertisements. When the telephone line connected to ad insertion
device is a shared line, the periodic calls are preferably
conducted during the nighttime hours or at another time of day when
the likelihood of conflict with residential use of the telephone
line is reduced. Alternatively, the means for receiving the
advertisement stream may include any other advertisement delivery
channel, such as an over-the-air broadcast, a cable provider, a
consumer satellite service, a data transport, such as an Internet
connection, or any other system for transmitting video data.
FIG. 5 illustrates an optional ad filter device 84 used to
pre-screen and accept only selected advertisements from the ad
delivery source. Such a prefiltering process is useful when an
advertisement repository 86 is capable of storing a limited number
of advertisements. The advertisements are filtered by ad filter
device 84 according to the ad selection criteria stored at storage
location 83.
Advertisement repository 86 contains a cache of delivered
advertisements that optionally have been prefiltered. Accordingly,
advertisement repository 86 is but one example of means for storing
a plurality of advertisements. Advertisement repository 86 may
comprise any computer readable medium capable of storing digitally
encoded video programming and later making the encoded programming
available for display to a viewer. Alternatively, advertisement
repository 86 may comprise conventional magnetic video tape or
another recording medium for storing an analog version of the video
programming feed.
Ad insertion device 80 includes means for detecting a triggering
event indicating an appropriate time to display the selected
advertisement. One example of such means includes a switching
decision unit 88 that monitors a trigger delivery channel in order
to identify the triggering event. However, the means for detecting
a triggering event may instead include computer-executable
instructions carried on a computer-readable medium for analyzing
the structure of a video programming feed and identifying a virtual
triggering event as described herein.
As discussed above with respect to FIG. 4, the triggering delivery
channel may be combined with the delivery of the video programming
feed. In one embodiment the triggering signal is transmitted during
the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of a television signal. The
triggering signal may be encoded in the broadcast by a content
provider that has agreed to cooperate in the ad insertion system of
the invention. Because the triggering signal appears in the video
programming feed at a pre-identified or otherwise determined period
of time before the onset of a subsequent advertisement series, the
ad insertion device 80 may thereby determine the precise time for
inserting a selected advertisement. When switching decision unit 88
identifies the presence of a triggering signal, whether actual or
implied, it prompts video switch 90 to interrupt display of the
video programming feed and to insert in its place the selected
advertisement from advertisement repository 86. Video switch 90 is
but one example of means for interrupting delivery of the video
programming feed and delivering, at the appropriate time, the
selected advertisement to the display device.
In an alternative embodiment of ad insertion devices of the
invention, advertisement repository 86 is replaced with a virtual
advertisement storage system, whereby advertisements are delivered
to the ad insertion device, selected, and displayed "on the fly"
without any actual intermediate storage of the advertisements in
the ad insertion device. This method of "streaming" advertisement
data is useful in home entertainment systems having small or no
hard drive or other data storage devices. According to the
streaming method, a video programming stream is multiplexed with
one or more advertisement streams, thereby providing a periodic or
constant stream of advertisements, any of which may be selected and
displayed to the viewer in real-time. The multiplexing method can
be in-band by splitting a digital stream into multiple lower
bandwidth streams, and distributing the video programming stream
and the advertisement streams among the lower bandwidth streams.
Alternately, the multiplexing method can be out-of-band, in which
multiple channels, including a video programming channel and one or
more advertisement channels, are simultaneously transmitted.
The video switch 90 selects between a real-time video programming
feed and a real-time advertisement feed. In one example of this
approach, the advertisement delivery channel delivers, in real
time, two or more advertisements synchronized to start in unison
with the beginning of the advertisement time slot in the video
programming feed. Another embodiment may have very limited ad
storage capability, perhaps two or three ads for each time slot,
and receive the ads encoded in the broadcast signal just before
selection and display.
In yet another embodiment, advertisements are selected and inserted
into a video programming stream without regard to the position of
the conventional advertising slot. Instead of an appropriate time
determined by the content of the programming or by any other
desired criteria, the video programming is interrupted and one or
more selected advertisements are displayed. In this embodiment a
delay code is embedded in the video programming, which functions to
delay or pause the programming during the length of the
advertisements. Once the advertisements are completed, the paused
programming resumes. From the standpoint of the viewer, such ad
insertion appears to be no different than the other embodiments of
the invention.
In one implementation, the ad delivery of FIG. 5 is conducted by
transmitting the advertisements on a piecemeal basis during
transmission of a typical analog television broadcast. The
advertisements can be received by advertisement repository 86
during the vertical blanking intervals of the television signal. In
this manner, the advertisements can be transmitted without an
increase in bandwidth or the use of dedicated delivery channels. In
view of the foregoing and the other methods disclosed herein, it
can be understood that the ad delivery may be a real-time feed, a
relatively slow and ongoing process, a download of a relatively
large number of advertisements during a short period, or any
intermediate combination of the foregoing.
In another alternative embodiment, the ad insertion device permits
the viewer to insert a "bookmark" in an advertisement of interest.
Inserting a bookmark involves saving all or selected information of
the advertisement for later retrieval or reference. A bookmark
corresponding to an advertisement of interest may be saved in
advertisement repository 86 or in another storage site in the ad
insertion device or the home entertainment system.
In yet another embodiment, two or more appropriate advertisements
are selected for an available time slot in the video programming
feed. Each of the two or more selected advertisements is displayed
at the appropriate time using a split-screen or another arrangement
by which the viewer may see both advertisements. The viewer then
has the option of choosing one of the displayed advertisements that
is of greatest interest. A default or machine-selected ad can be
displayed if no selection is made. This method of displaying
multiple advertisements gives the viewer an increased degree of
interactivity with respect to the selection of the
advertisements.
FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating selected steps in one
embodiment of a method for inserting,an advertisement into a video
programming feed using the ad insertion device 80 of FIG. 5. In
step 100, the downloading of advertisements is initiated according
to the methods disclosed herein. If, according to decision box 102,
prefiltering is desired in order to select only certain
advertisement for storage in the advertisement repository 86, the
ad selection criteria are used to filter the advertisements in step
104. In step 106, the downloaded advertisements, whether
prefiltered or not, are stored in advertisement repository 86.
At a time selected by the viewer, the home entertainment system in
step 108 receives video programming from a content provider and
displays the video programming. In step 110, a stored advertisement
is selected according to the selection criteria as described
herein. In step 112, the ad insertion device waits for a triggering
event that indicates an appropriate time to insert the selected
advertisement. When a triggering event is received according to
decision box 114, the video switch is activated in step 116,
thereby interrupting the display of the video programming feed and
displaying the selected advertisement.
In an optional step, the viewer response to the displayed
advertisement is monitored in step 118 according to the methods
disclosed herein. When the selected advertisement is complete, the
video switch resumes transmitting the video programming feed to the
display device in step 120. According to decision box 122,
depending on the availability of more advertisements and whether
the viewer chooses to continue watching the video programming fee,
the ad insertion device either selects a new advertisement in step
110 or the method proceeds to its close. If no more advertisements
are to be shown, the compiled viewer response statistics are
optionally reported in step 124 to the operator of the
advertisement source or to a third party. If viewer response
statistics are to be reported, they may be transmitted from the ad
insertion device at any convenient time. Step 124 can be performed
on a periodic basis, such as once per day or once per week.
FIG. 7 illustrates a further embodiment of the invention, wherein
the video programming and, optionally, the advertisements to be
inserted in the video programming, are delivered by means of a
satellite broadcast system. It is well known in the art that
satellite service providers may be advantageously used to deliver
video programming to viewers, and are thus an alternative to cable
providers, over-the-air broadcasts, and other broadcasting methods.
In FIG. 7, national broadcaster 18 and cable network 30 make their
programming feeds 38 and 39 available to satellite service provider
130, which then uplinks an analog or digital data stream 132 to
satellite 134. Advertisements 20 and 34 are typically included in
advertisement slots in the programming feeds 38 and 39.
According to the invention, an ad source 62 provides an
advertisement stream 64, which is also transmitted by satellite
service provider 130. Satellite 134 transmits signals 136 that
include programming feeds 38 and 39 and advertisement stream 64 to
a receiver unit 138 at household 56. In this manner, the system of
FIG. 7 allows video programming and an advertisement stream to
reach household 56. Thereafter, ad insertion device 60 is used to
select and display advertisements on display device 58 according to
the methods disclosed herein.
In one implementation, ad source 62 transmits advertisement streams
64 only periodically over satellite 134, in which case, a device
such as advertisement repository 86 of FIG. 5 may be used to store
the transmitted advertisements for later selection and display. For
example, advertisement stream 64 may be broadcast on a dedicated
channel during a late night period of time when relatively few
viewers are watching television. Optionally, when a periodic
broadcast technique is employed, advertisement stream 64 may be
broadcast on the same channel used by national broadcaster 18 or
cable network 30, but at an hour when the national broadcaster or
cable network is otherwise off the air. According to yet another
alternative, national broadcaster 18 and cable network 30 may
choose to multiplex advertisement stream 64 into video programming
feeds 38 and 39. Furthermore, the satellite service provider 130
may instead be used to broadcast only video programming feeds 38
and 39, while another system is used to deliver advertisement
stream 64 to household 56. For example, the system of FIG. 7 may be
modified by delivering advertisement stream over-the-air, by
telephone lines, or by any other technique disclosed herein.
While the invention has been described herein primarily in
reference to inserting advertisements, it is to be understood that
the invention is not limited to advertisements, but instead extends
to inserting any desired type of video programming or other video
objects into a video programming stream. For example, ad source 62
of FIG. 4 may instead be a source of any desired video programming,
such as pay-per-view, subscription, special-interest television
programming, video Internet broadcasts, and the like.
FIG. 8 illustrates a further embodiment of the invention, in which
a "cross-over" link, such as an active Internet link, is embedded,
inserted, or overlaid on video programming. In particular, a
content provider 50 encodes cross-over links, including an
information retrieval address, in a video programming feed 52.
According to one embodiment for encoding cross-over links, content
provider 50 includes a programming source 66 and a programming
database 140 that includes information relating to the program
description, or topics, dialog, persons, brand names, etc., that
appear in the video programming feed 52. Programming database 140
is associated with an Internet database 142 or a database
associated with another information service. Internet database 142,
includes, for example, selected Internet sites that pertain to any
of a wide variety of topics and subjects. Internet database 142 and
programming database 140 can be used to identify and select
Internet sites that relate to the video programming feed 52
according to desired rules and parameters. When a selected topic or
subject is being broadcast in video programming feed 52, an
information retrieval address corresponding to one or more related
Internet sites is encoded in the video programming feed by, for
example, cross-over link encoder 144. In one implementation, an
Internet address is encoded in the video programming feed 52 during
the vertical blanking interval.
Video programming feed 52, including the encoded cross-over link,
is delivered to household 56 according to any desired method. A
cross-over link decoder 146 extracts the cross-over link
information from video programming feed 52. WebTV boxes are one
example of devices that support link decoding. The decoded
cross-over link 148 may then be displayed on display device 58. For
example, cross-over links 148 may be displayed by overlaying the
link on a conventional television display, by generating a
split-screen display, or by any other desired method. Cross-over
link 148 is thus a visually displayed object that offers the viewer
access to further information relating to the topic or subject that
is simultaneously displayed on the video programming of display
device 58.
A viewer is then permitted to select the cross-over link 148 by use
of a remote control device or another input device 150. Selection
of cross-over link 148 initiates a request to an Internet service
provider 152 or another information service provider for retrieval
of the information, such as a World Wide Web page, associated with
the selected cross-over link. The selected information is retrieved
by Internet service provider 152 and is delivered to household 56
via an information delivery channel for display on display device
58. The retrieved information may be displayed by interrupting the
video programming feed and inserting the information on display
device 58, by generating nested display windows so as to avoid
interrupting the video programming, or by any other desired
method.
The invention also extends to methods for collecting and reporting
viewer response information. For example, regardless of the
advertisement selection rules and criteria, actions taken by
viewers in response to particular advertisements may be collected
at statistics collection location 61 or another suitable device and
periodically reported to the advertiser, the ad source, or another
party. It is to be understood that such methods of collecting and
reporting viewer response information is encompassed by the
invention.
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms
without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The
described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as
illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is,
therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the
foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning
and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within
their scope.
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